The Talmud teaches us that words when kindly employed represent the majestic character of its user and when unkindly used, the converse. In ancient Babylon, the wise men said "a word is worth one coin and silence is worth two". This statement does not advocate speechlessness as it does the selective use of words. The profundity of ancient wisdom echoed in the words of the sages of Babylon is obvious and explained by the late Rabbi A. Y. Karelitz. If he or she is to exercise speechlessness, from sunrise to sunset they have earned but only two coins. Where in speech every single word earns one coin. Greatness of silence is in the restraining of nature's reflex not to use offensive, aggressive and damaging words. Substitution with gentle, kind and comforting words "speaks of silence". Silence, not as inactivity but as a virtuous verb controlled by the conviction of good character. A discretionary choice of words spoken is what constitutes "true use" of the beauty of words. indiscriminate use of words is what constitutes "true use" of the ugliness of man to harm and to kill through gossip.

Aside the designated commandments in Leviticus, which includes the restriction against speaking, accepting and even listening to gossip; participating in gossip is a breach of the divine and universal commandment "Love your friend as yourself". But, perhaps what is more divine though unfamiliar is the commandment "Love your enemy as yourself" as explained in the Talmud and as the great eighteenth century scholar Rabbi Elijah of Vilna explains, that loving has alchemic components that makes enemies into friends. (I.e. Talmudic law mandates that if one is confronted with a situation when he can only help either his friend or one who he harbors anger towards, he must help the latter. This law is intended to ultimately mitigate if not eliminate the anger toward him/her). By digging into our unconscious residue of hostility, we possess the creative power of "thinking others into enemies". Then we proceed to speak about them to death. We also possess the power of "thinking others into friends", making them recipients of kindness by proceeding to speak to them with words that give life.

The Torah views gossip as the currency of idle people, perhaps valueless as counterfeit currency but damaging as nothing else. Two or more people engaged in gossip are for the most part removed or distant from their subject of conversation. They feel complacent not to confront the carnage they inflict. In ancient times, physical expression of hatred required strength, agility, passion and relishing the idea of killing. Most of the time it is committed by a personality who is fierce, arrogant, dominating and feels comfortable acting cruel. The gossipers by contrast must be cool headed, emotionally detached and his/her mind uncluttered of passion in order to give venomous words credibility and make them potent weapons of destruction. Even the thought of gossiping about one in his/her absence reduces a human being into an abstraction compounded by the annihilating power of the gossip itself.

The Talmudic equation of gossiping to murder becomes new legislation and redefines freedom of speech. We acknowledge freedom to use the divine gift of speech, but not freedom to rob speech of its true meaning by misuse. Even listening to gossip is abhorrent. As Hubert Humphrey said in his speech in Madison, WI, in the summer of 1965: "the right to be heard does not include the right to be taken seriously". So even when there is license to convey negative information, there is no license for the listener to accept all that is spoken. Our environment and social structure validates the Chinese proverb: "those who gossip to you will gossip about you". An experience we will all like to avoid.

The distinctive feature that makes a human being in the image of G-d according to our Torah is the gift of speech. Speech and words are the quill of the heart (so says the great sixteenth-century Rabbi Bechaye). Perhaps then, the way we use our words becomes the graphology of our character.

Concepts and principles of gossip:

  • People are not to be a subject of conversation.
  • Damaging information whether bad (i.e. So-and-so is incompetent) or either good (i.e. So-and-so is wealthy - thus causing many people to seek favors excessively) is deemed as gossip.
  • Sarcasm and innuendo constitutes gossip.
  • Negative information shared about someone in jocular manner is still considered gossip.
  • One may share negative information with another if it is for the benefit of other's relationship or health (the man/ woman he/she is involved has a dangerous temper)
  • When one hears this beneficial information they are allowed to become suspicious but not to decisively believe the negative information.
  • Children should be discouraged from reporting their siblings or friend's behavior to their parents or teachers. If however this is for the protection of the child, parent, teacher, they must report the information.
  • It is also prohibited to listen to gossip or pay attention to it.
  • Negative information is considered gossip even if it is absolutely true.


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Births
Rabbi and Mrs. Daniel Melamed
on the birth of a son

Rabbi and Mrs. Alter Klein
on the birth of a daughter

Rabbi and Mrs. Shlomo Swartz
on the birth of a grandson

Rosh Yeshiva
on the birth of a grandson

Rabbi and Mrs. Yehuda Friedland
on the birth of a girl
and to the grandparents Leonard & Sylvia Friedland

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gilbert
on the birth of a granddaughter

Rabbi & Mrs. Yizchok Lokensy
On the birth of a girl

Rabbi and Mrs. Pinchos Dovid Orenstein
on the birth of a boy

Bar Mitzvos
Rabbi and Mrs. Yoel Grossman's son

Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Perlmutter's son

Engagements
Dr. and Mrs. Tuvia Meister's son Elchonon

Marriages
Shmuel Dovid & Shoshana Drossman

Yonah & Miriam Cantor

Akiva Nachas & Dassy Knabe

Mr. and Mrs. Moshe Raice
on the marriage of their daughters

Mr. and Mrs. Dovid Illions
on the marriage of their daughter

For those who are slow to give up those long and hazy days of summer, the Jewish calendar has a way of quickly shaking you out of summer slumber and once again presenting the weighty proposition of crowning the Malchei Melachim. I can think of nothing more diametrically opposed than walking into shul one morning still thinking about sipping a tall refreshing drink while reclining in some bucolic spot, to hearing the sound of the shofar on Rosh Chodesh and reciting "L'Dovid Hashem Ori." We quickly realize that the themes of summer, namely those of laziness and "free-spiritedness," are the hallmark of the Yetzer Hara and need to be shaken off and discarded. Embedded in our Yetzer is the notion that averos bring a sense of liberation and freedom. The reality (and bracha) is that the averos themselves can awaken one to teshuva, "There you will serve gods, the handiwork of man, of wood and stone... From there you will seek Hashem, your G-d, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Devarim 4/ 28, 29). It is precisely via the terrible avera of avoda zara (and b'zman hazeh this can come be many guises) that one can return to Hashem, even through sin one has the gates of the mitzvas asay of teshuva wide open to him.

With the last gasps of summer gone and the Yomim Noraim upon us, we are confronted with the challenge of renewal and self-examination, "renew your actions in the first month" (Vayikra Rabba 29) so, while the fact that Elul is here is very apparent in the Bais Medrash of Kol Yaakov, in the world outside the Yeshiva it is easy for the Yomin Noraim to sneak up on you. To that end, Kol Yaakov and Horizons are renewing and strengening our efforts to bringing some of the spirit of the Yeshiva to the greater Kol Yaakov family. In addition to quarterly newsletters, Kol Yaakov/Horizons will be entering the 21st century by launching a new web site and inaugurating weekly e-mailings containing Divre Torah and Halacha from the Rosh Yeshiva and others. Also, stay tuned for an alumni weekend Yarchei Kallah in Monsey and a retreat being planned in an area resort. To be included on our e-mail list, please forward your e-mail to djacobs@horizons.edu. K'siva V'chasima Tova.


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For my so-called bar mitzva, I gave an oral report on the Ethiopian Jews. No Torah, no mitzvos, no mention of God. My radical Sunday school in LA reduced Judaism to history, art, food, and left-wing politics. But on the bright side, the sense of purpose with which they tied Judaism to fighting for the underdog left me a pilot light of Jewish identity that would later reach out to more substantial fuel.

As a history major at UC Berkeley, I struggled with the questions like "How am I supposed to live?" and "How can I make the world a better place?" I invested my energies in political and environmental movements and got involved running Berkeley's large consortium of student housing cooperatives. I envisioned a utopian future of cooperative communities growing their own organic food, building their own communal homes, and bartering products of their cooperative workshops. Vegetarianism and bicycle commuting were my big mitzvos.

But every vehicle I chose just spun its wheels. The political groups gave me much to hate but nothing to love. The utopian attempts were often stymied by unacknowledged realities of human nature-what I'd now call the yetzer hara.

My first venture back into Yiddishkeit was through a very alternative movement that calls itself "Jewish Renewal." The singing, newly-authored prayers, and creative "midrash" were interesting, but I wondered, "What are they renewing, anyway?" Not ready for an Orthodox shul, I joined up with a Carlebach-style "chevre," with whom I finally embraced Yiddishkeit and became shomer mitzvos in that rainbow-kippah kind of way.

Eventually I knew I had to leave Berkeley if I was to go any further-somewhere where I could learn how to learn, surround myself with b'nei Torah, and get a periodic kick in the pants to grow. At Kol Yaakov I soon found that through the scary sea of black ran familiar currents of idealism- except that here the outlet was perfecting oneself, not everyone else. In Rabbi Tropper I fulfilled my long quest for a role model. From experience I had rationalized that the trade-off for getting a dynamic leader was getting a self-centered mushchat. Rabbi Tropper showed me that one can reach out and affect others while still demanding perfection of oneself.

With the bochurim, I had to expand myself beyond my like-minded Berkeley clique to be friends with the most diverse group I had ever known: Russians, Israelis, teenagers, singers, soldiers.and, my biggest challenge, conservatives-- all different masks over the same upward struggle through the muck of our angers, fears, and pasts.

Sometimes I go to bed frustrated with learning or disappointed by shidduchim; but I have the peace of mind that I am on the right path, surrounded by the right chaverim, and guided by the right rabbaim. My future feels secure, realistic, and based on a road map you can't get at the AAA. Thank you Rabbi Tropper and Kol Yaakov!


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Our goal at Horizons is to spread the knowledge and love of Torah and to gather some of those sparks that still can be found in the assimilated Jewish world.

In recent months Rabbi Tropper and Horizons have impacted Jewish communities across the length and breath of the country and beyond. In this case, beyond, means Hamilton, Canada. Rabbi Tropper along with 9 bochurim from Kol Yaakov spent a week there giving shiurim, learning b'chavrusa with members of the community and bringing the ruach of Monsey to this suberb of Toronto. Rabbi Tropper also delivered several of his acclaimed lectures to the Hamiltonians.

Rounding out the year 5763, Horizons will be slipping in another trip the week before Rosh Hashana, this time, to San Francisco to spend Shabbos at the Bay Area Torah Institute headed by Kol Yaakov alumnus Rabbi Yaakov Barros. Rabbi Tropper will also be delivering a shiur in Berkeley while in the Bay Area.

Upcoming endeavors include an invitation by the Newburgh, NY community for Horizons to come in and spark some awareness and enthusiasm in Yiddishkeit. We will be kicking off our outreach there with event in November which will feature Rabbi Tropper's sister-in-law, Mrs. Susan Blond who will be reprising the well-received lecture she gave in Monsey of her fascinating journey to Torah observance. This will inaugurate, IY''H, a long-term relationship with Newburgh.

After that it's on to Ellenville, NY, Boston, MA, Bethlehem, PA and southern Maryland. In the coming school year, Horizons will also be increasing our presence on college campuses across the county. In our cross-hairs are the campuses at Albany, Syracuse, and University of Florida, to name just a few.

If you feel your community or a community you know could benefit from one of Rabbi Tropper's inspiring and warm lecture, please contact us at (845) 425-3863 or info@Horizons.edu


To receive a weekly e-mail with Divrei Torah and Halacha from Kol Yaakov, or to inform us of your simchos, send an e-mail to: djacobs@horizons.edu or call us (845) 425-3863.
Check out our new Website: www.horizons.edu


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1. In the month of Tishrei, we do not sanctify the new moon until Motzei Yom HaKipurim. Some opinions suggest that we should do it before Yom HaKippurim.

2. Before sanctifying the new moon, on Motzei Yom Hakippurim, one should break the fast.

3. Women are exempt from the mitzvah of sanctifying the new moon.


1. Rama O.C. 426-2, Mahril (laws of Aseres Yemey Teshuva), Levush ibid No. 4-Mateh Ephraim ibd No. 46.
However Vilna Gaon Ibid argues agreeing with the Chavos Yair that we should sanctify new moon before Yom Kippur.

2. Mateh Ephraim 624-4-Mishnah Berura argues (see M.B. 426-11 in the name of Chaye Adam)

3. Mogen Avrohom 426. In name of Sheloh Hakalosh Mishna Br. Ibid-1.




Horizons has dramatically enhanced its ability to reach out to our lost Jewish brethren by merging with the Lillian Jean Kaplan Jewish Pride Through Education Project. Funding provided by this program has afforded Horizons the ability to greatly expand its outreach efforts by increasing funding for marketing and personnel. Also, through such programs as the Nathaniel Berger Israel Incentive Program, Horizons has also been able to expand the scope of its efforts to facilitate the return of Jewish


CONDOLENCES :

Rabbi Yehoshua Krohn on the loss of his mother, O'H

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